U6 
Di 


R13 


Supplement to 


Vol. VI. No. 4, THE NORMAL BUBLEPIN, November, 1914 








Virginia State-Teachers 
Association 
| “ Annual Report of the President for the Year 1912-13 


(Explanatory Note: The following is a pertion of the Annual 
Report of the President of the Virginia State Teachers Association 
for the year 1912-1913. It was made in an address delivered at the 
Annual Meeting in Lynchburg, Virginia, November 27, 1912, by 
the President of the Association, Julian A. Burruss, President of 
the State Normal School for Women, at Harrisonburg. It is now 
published, at the expense of the author, in the hope that some ot the 
recommendations made in it will receive thoughtful consideration 
by the teachers of Virginia, and that the Association may see its 
way clear to put some of these recommendations into operation in 
the near future. “The author believes with all his heart that the 
State Teachers Association can be made the most powerful agency 
for good in the cause of public education in Virginia, and he ven- 
tures these suggestions as an indication of some of the ways in which 


this may be done.) 





It is with great satisfaction that I comply with Article IV of 
the Constitution of the Virginia State Teachers Association and sub- 
mit this written report. This satisfaction has its source not in great 
accomplishments, for such I cannot claim for the past year, not in 
self-appreciation for service rendered, for I am fully conscious of 
many sins of omission; but rather in the recognition that while 
something has been attempted and some little done, I have gained 
an insight into the immense power of the educational forces of Vir- 
ginia, the incalculable potentialities which this great statewide or- 
ganization possesses; possibilities which we as yet see in part; but, 
which, with ever broadening vision forward and upward, we may 
hope to realize fully in the more perfect development which the 
coming years should bring. 


* * * # ® 


A study of the organization and work of the Association dur- 
ing the past year prompts me to make the following recommenda- 
tions, altho time forbids that I do more than mention them brief} 
at this time: i 





First, that the present Executive Committee be converted into a° 

Board of Directors, meeting once each year as at present, to be com- 

posed of all former presidents, and the officers and heads of the six 
departments for the current year. 


Second, that the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, for the cur- 
rent year, be an Executive Committee, to meet at least quarterly, 
and to report all of its acts to the Board of Directors at the annual 
meeting for their approval or disapproval. 


Third, that each Vice-President choose a live, active school worker 
in each county in his district to form an “advisory cabinet” from 
whom may be had information and advice as to the situation in the 
diiferent counties; that blank forms be provided for reports from 
local associations to state officers; that the reports of the ten State 
Vice-Presidents be incorporated in full in the report of the President 
of the Association and so published annually; that Article V of the 
Constitution be enforced or repealed, or that, instead, it be amended 
to require an annual report from the Vice-Presidents rather than 
three reports; that district meetings should be held only at the discre- 
tion of the Vice-President after consultation with the President; that 
an effort be made by the Vice-Presidents to prevent the multiplicity of 
meetings; and that a more liberal allowance be made for the prosecu- 
tion of the district work whenever necessary. 


Fourth, that the Association seriously consider the advisability of 
employing a Secretary who shall be able to give at least one-half of 
his time to the work of this office, and that he be correspondingly 
paid; that he maintain an office, with the necessary equipment of 
nles for the records of the Association, and be authorized to employ 
such assistance as may from time to time be necessary; that the 
Secretary maintain an information bureau for giving without 
charge to teachers or employers information concerning vacancies 
and properly qualified teachers; and that the Secretary conduct con- 
stantly a campaign for the improvement of school conditions in the 
state. 


Fifth, that, until the Association employs a Secretary for at least 
one-half his time, a State Organizer be appointed to go to every 
county in the state and keep alive interest in local association work, 
see that they have definite plans, help in teachers’ meetings and in 
perfecting the organization; and that until such an officer is ap- 
pointed, the officials of the Co-operative Education Association and 
the State School Inspectors be requested to investigate and report to 
the Secretary of the Association conditions as regards local associa- 
tion work in the counties that they visit, making a-brief report on 
blank forms to be provided for the purpose. 


Sixth, that all officers shall serve from January first to December 
thirty-first, to enable them to settle the affairs of the annual meeting. 








Seventh, that local associations co-operate with other organizations 
ublic good in their communities, such as school.and civic leagues, 





OO ete ee 


4 6. 
Vr 
1912 | 





L 


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‘ 

ed ‘ . . 
boys’ and girls’ clubs, etc.; and that meetings under the combined 
auspices of these organizations be held where expedient in prefer- 
ence to separate meetings. 


Eighth, that the annual meeting continue to be considered as a very 
important part of the work of this Association but as only one 
phase of our work, to the end that the Association may seek to do 
effective work thruout the year rather than lie dormant for ten 
months and then feverishly bend all of its energies for a spasmodic 
eruption in November; that the programs for the several depart- 
ments at the annual meeting be so arranged as to center in each 
department about one large central thought, leading to action along 
some definite line and to permanent practical results as well as to 
passing inspiration; that a broad sense of relative values govern the 
assignment of time and place to the various interests which clamor 
for attention; and, finally, that the proceedings of the entire con- 
ference, including all four co-operating bodies, be published an- 
nually in the same volume. 


Ninth, that the Association publish for free distribution among its 
members a quarterly bulletin, which may be done at a very slight, if 
any, increase in expense; one volume to contain the proceedings of 
the annual meeting, one to contain a preliminary announcement of 
the annual meeting together with pertinent notes on the affairs of 
the Association, one the complete program of the annual meeting and 
Association news, and the other to be a special number containing 
reports of committees and special studies of problems important to 
the Association. At present bulletins are needed on the following 
subjects: History and purposes of the State Teachers Association, 
what it has accomplished and what it is planning to do; Organiza- 
tion and stimulation of local associations, with tentative programs, 
2 model constitution, and general information; A code of ethics: A 
study of the question of teachers’ salaries; and so on. If the Asso- 
ciation employs a Secretary for half time he can do most of the work 
of editing, but if it does not have such an officer then an editorial 
board might be appointed to do this work. Publicity thru the Vir- 
ginia Journal of Education of the matters in which the Association 
‘s interested, with each month notes showing what different local 
associations are doing would help greatly. 


Tenth, that the Association get into touch with similar organiza- 
tions in other states and work with them toward national ends. 
Eleventh, that at each annual meeting, a definite platform of prin- 
ciples and purposes be formulated, to the end that the people of the 
state may know for what this Association stands; and so that we our- 
selves may know what the Association is going to try to accomplish, 
what movements are to receive its support, and to what causes it will 
throw its interest and influence. | 


This Association can. be. made, under proper leadership, the 
most powerful. influence for educational progress. in the State. J 
would not presume to dictate a platform. It should be done  ° 


* 





competent committee representing various attitudes and beliefs. Ef 
think it not out of place, however, to call your attention to what 
appear to me to be some very vital questions affecting the educational 
welfare of the state. 


First, I think this organization should stand unqualifiedly for every 
movement which has for its aim the physical welfare of the chil- 
dren. ‘To this end we should aid in every possible way to secure 
medical inspection thruout the entire school system. ‘The thoro 
survey of conditions in Orange County, conducted under the direc- 
tion of the State Department of Health and of that ardent and able 
apostle of school hygiene, Professor W. H. Heck, of the University 
of Virginia, has given us an example of what can be done and of 
what ought to be done in every county. “The wonderfully success- 
ful work of the State Health Department in the eradication of those 
diseases which make the teachers’ work in many cases well-nigh use- 
less, should inspire us to still greater effort in this direction. The 
good results to be obtained from healthful school athletics and di- 
rected play should not be confined to cities and larger towns. In- 
struction should be given, at least incidentally, to both pupils and 
patrons in food and diet, with special reference to the improvement 
of the lunches of school children. “The essential facts along all .of 
these lines are so simple and so easily obtainable, that there is no 
excuse for neglect. We should continue our efforts to improve the 
sanitary condition of the school ‘houses and surroundings; and should 
make an effort to improve the aesthetic conditions as well. If the 
State Department would employ a landscape architect to make sug- 
gestions and plans for the betterment of school grounds and if these 
plans could then be carried out, it would result in bringing much of 
joy and beauty into the lives of both pupils and teachers. 


Second, 1 believe that the teachers of this state should stand in no 
uncertain terms for compulsory education. It is true that so long as 
the school plants are no better than pig pens the children ought not 
to be forced into them, but it 1s also true that as soon as the children 
are forced in the pigs will be forced out and the plant will become 
a fit abiding-place because of the demand thus created. ‘The present 
laws in this connection amount to nothing and new legislation 
should be sought at once. With this goes as a necessary concomitant 
child labor legislation. Children will continue to be exploited and 
sacrificed until some other alternative than idleness is presented. 
The ranks of the criminal, pauper, and non-productive class will 
continue to be recruited in ever increasing numbers until ignorant, 
or a or indifferent parents are compelled to send their children 
to school. 


Third, if the children are required to attend school we must offer 
them the kind of training which they need in order that each, in that 
sphere for which he is best adapted, may become the greatest suc- 
cess as a productive unit. ‘The child must have instilled into him 
from early infancy that he is one of a group, that he has rights and 
that others also have rights. The kindergarten is the nearest ap- 
oach the world has yet made to an ideal social educational insti- 


tution, and we should insist that it be made possible for public school 
funds to be used for the establishment of such institutions. Our en- 
tire course of instruction should be subject to constant and frank 
criticism and to courageous revision whenever necessary, in order 
that it may be kept constantly in touch with life. Non-essential mat- 
ter must be eliminated and every study made to function in the lives 
of the students. “The school work should find its counterpart in the 
home work of the pupils, and credit be given them for it. One of the 
greatest educational leaders and thinkers that Virginia has ever pro- 
duced, former Superintendent, now President, Eggleston, has re- 
cently added to the literature of modern education a book filled with 
the new spirit of life-giving, joy-filling, worth-while education. 


Fourth, since the demand is becoming more and more insistent that 
the schools train specifically for vocation, and as the schools belong 
to the people and hence the people have a right to have their demands 
met, it behooves us to provide adequately for an efficient system of 
vocational training. he state has already done much in this direction. 
It remains for us first of all to see that the funds already appropriated 
ire not misused but are devoted in our high schools entirely to the 
giving of instruction in agriculture, home economics, and manual 
arts, as intended. In order to protect these interests there should 
be supervision by technically trained experts, and the Department of 
Public Instruction should have at least one such technically trained 
man on its staff. The whole question of vocational education is such 
an important one, and most of us know so little about it, that I be- 
lieve it will be found advisable for Virginia in the near future to 
appoint a commission to study the whole problem, ascertain the needs, 
and map out a plan of action. I firmly believe that this is one of the 
great causes for which this Association should stand, indeed I think 
it is facing a very great opportunity to take the lead in this matter, 
and that it should do so without delay. 


Fifth, in addition to what has been said, the state’s educational forces 
should foster other special types of education. We are learning that 
the education of the negro race is necessary for the protection of the 
white race, and we should encourage the institutions which stand in 
our midst for the better training of the negro. Virginia, like Ken- 
tucky, has a mountain problem; and Virginia like Kentucky has given 
to the world a fine experiment in education among these people in 
the school conducted with such striking success in Rockbridge County. 
Such schools should be established thruout the mountain sections and 
such schools will be established when other women hear the call and 
respond to it as the noble women in charge of this school have done. 
Our schools must be made more than places where children come to 
be taught; they must be made social centers for the communities in 
which they are located; and they must be made places for the con- 
tinued instruction of adults and of youth who have gone to work or 
who have passed the school age. For those who cannot come to school 
in the dav time should be provided means for obtaining instruction at 
night. For those who will not come to school etither day or night, 
the school should be carried to them, thru public lectures. demon- 
strations, the lantern, the moving-picture, the published bulletin, etc. 


5 


Sixth, since little can be accomplished unless there are leaders well- 
qualified tor the work, we should put forth every effort to raise the 
standard ox protessional attainment among our teaching torce. If 
we are ever to have our vocation take rank as a profession we must 
show that we are p.ofessionals. “leaching on a second or third grade 
certificate may be a very good thing tor tne little girl who is looking 
torward to an early marriage, or tor a man who thereby secures in 
ott season a wage supplement to his earnings in season on the tarm, 
but what of the children—is it fair to them? And what ot our pro- 
tession—shall we not protect ourselves? As an organization: within 
one of the noolest of the professions, must we not insist that teachers 
with professional training shall be given preference in every way 
over those who have not been professionally trained? With the pro- 
visions now made for professional training the State has a right to 
expect that its schools shall be officered by men and women who can 
show themselves to be workmen that need not to be ashamed, be- 
cause they have become masters of their craft. For the most part I 
know that we have a very competent set of superintendents in Vir- 
ginia, and I have great respect for them, but to protect us in future 
it seems to me it should be required for eligibility to that office that 
a high-grade teachers’ certificate shall be held and that there shall 
be in addition thereto several years of successful teaching experience. 


Seventh, to the end that we may have the proper material for the 
administration of our schools we must see to it that the various in- 
stitutions maintain high standards. ‘The classification of institutions 
whch has recently been undertaken by the Department of Public In- 
struction has already resulted in great good and this work should 
Le continued and extended. ‘The Virginia Association of Schools 
‘and Colleges for Girls has undertaken a similar work within its 
own field. Laws should be enacted so that it will be less easy for 
educational institutions to make false representations as to the 
character of work which they do. ‘This is especially needed in the 
case of the degi'ee giving institutions, some of which are little better 
than, if indeed as good as, first-class high schools. No institution 
should be permitted to confer a degree except under terms and 
conditions to be imposed by the State Board of Education. In erder 
that the State’s own institutions of higher learning may be able to 
meet the demands which are being made upon them, they should be - 
liberally supported out of the public funds. A great organization like 
this could do much to secure an equitable adjustment and put an end 
to a most disagreeable practice and dangerous system of appropri- 
ating funds to public institutions, by using its influence to secure 
some stable and permanent basis for the support and expansion of 
these institutions and for a just apportionment to the several insti- 
tutions on a basis of their actual needs and the relative importance 
of the work being done by them. 


Eighth, that we may hold our teachers in the work, we should do 
everything in our power to have them paid a living wage. ‘Some 
must always receive more pay than others, but this should be be- 
cause of better preparation and of ability to assume greater respon- 
sibility. ‘The situation of the rural teacher especially needs atten- 


6 


tion. Her term is short, her hours are long; her pay is small, her 
problems are great; there is frequently no hospitable roof to shelter 
her, and she has to beg a place to board. The remedy for this is 
perhaps to get wide-awake, energetic, resourceful. professionally 
tiained teachers to go out into the country schools, and then soon a 
longer term and a better salary will come, and perhaps the home 
problem will be solved; but the great trouble is in getting the 
teachers, for it requires a spirit of consecration, and of self-sacrifice, 
which few possess. “The Association has alreadv a committee at 
work on the question of teachers’ salaries, and Mr. Binford has 
nimself made a very excellent study of the matter. The work of 
this committee will be continued thru the coming year. We should 
inaugurate a campaign for better recognition of our work as 
teachers, but in so doing we should be very sure that we are able 
to give a professional grade of service for professional pay. 


Ninth, inasmuch as the teacher has so_ little opportunity to accu- 
mulate riches, we should see that he is provided for when age or dis- 
ability brings him to the end of his earning period. "The Teachers’ 
Retirement Fund, which you were largely instrumental in establish- 
ing, is now helping a considerable number of worthy and faithful 
servants of the state. This system is hardly all that it ought to be, 
the funds ought to be greatly increased, and to my mind the State 
should assume full responsibility for its maintenance, which would 
remove the very natural objection on the part of some of our 
teachers to being forced to contribute from their meagre salaries to 
the support of a fund from which they will almost certainly derive 
no benefit. Of course there are many reasons why they should so 
contribute, but I am simply stating the case without argument. 


Tenth, I believe that this organization should stand for equal edw- 
cational opportunities for women. Frankly, I am personally of the 
opinion that the highest educational institution maintained by the 
state should be open to women on exactly the same basis as to men, 
on a straight out and out coeducational basis, as I do not believe 
that the women of our state can secure their educational rights in 
eny other way. Again, I believe that in Virginia there shou!d be 
one technical institution for women, which shall be in every respect 
co-ordinate in grade of work and equivalent in opportunity for 
technical training with the splendid institutions for men now 
maintained at Blacksburg and Lexington; where women may be 
trained in those vocations peculiar to women, and into which a vast 
majority of them will go. Such an institution must necessarily be 
apart from that for men because of the entirely different character of 
the courses to be offered, while in the case of regular academic in- 
struction the courses should be the same for both men and women. 
‘Lo go further, I think we should give very serious consideration to 
the advisability of woman suffrage in school affairs, in order that 
women may have a voice in all matters affecting the schools, to the 
end that the schools may have the benefit of that insight and tender 
care which is peculiar to woman. I am firmly convinced that there 
should be at least one woman on the school board of every division 


and one woman on the State Board of Education; and, moreover, 
that women should be eligible for the office of school superintendent, 
end not only eligible but appointed to that office in many cases. “This 
need not shock any one for there are Southern states where women 
hold this office and where they are making good. In fact I am certain 
that many of the evils now existing in our schools would be eradi- 
cated and many of the improvements we so much desire would 
come if we had some women superintendents and trustees. 
* * * # * 


This, then, is. the platform upon which I invite you, my com- 
rades, to stand with me. I am aware that it is quite unusual for one 
to publish his platform as he is about to retire from office; but I 
seek your pardon for this inconsistency on the ground that it has 
taken a whole year of service to make me familiar with the work 


_of our Association. Some months ago I found that I could hope to 
_ do little more than throw out a few suggestions for my successor. If, 


under the leadership of abler men in the future, some of these half- 
baked ideas are realized, I shall have the intense satisfaction of 
knowing that my administration was not without results. 

The whole outlook is encouraging, gloriously encouraging. He 
ic indeed a man.of ice whose heart does not glow with hope, and 
cheer, and courage, at what has been accomplished during the past | 
few years, at what is now being done, and at what the future 
promises for us. 

Finally, my fellow-workers, I am filled with the deepest emo- 
tions of grateful appreciation for this highest office within your gift, 
a trust that I have prized more highly than any that has ever come 
to me in my career.. To the end of my administration I have come 
with a sense of incompleteness which precludes personal pride; but 
with a profound sense of thankfulness that I have been permitted to 
be associated in this way with this noble company of faithful workers 
for the public good, and with a feeling amounting to reverence as 
a result of the visions I have seen for the future of education in this 
grand old Commonwealth of Virginia. 


